Day 9 Kilmore to Melbourne

Distance: 79km
Ascent 569m

This was the day everyone was looking forward too, a nice cruise to the finish in Melbourne. Know as the Champagne day in the Tour de France, this was a short ride stopping only once to strip down to basic shorts and shirts for the media photos. We had rode over 1,200km without any major incident and no crashes, we had done a great job of protecting each other in some difficult traffic. The final destination was in sight, we only had 300m to go.....CRASH. Whilst in the process of trying to bunny hop a curb Paul Wensor got it completely wrong and ended up sprawled across the pavement with loads of students and tourists looking on, totally bewildered at what had just taken place. Needless to say the rest of the team instantly disowned him and carried on!

Day 8 Mansfield to Kilmore

Distance: 148km
Ascent: 2,293m

The day consisted of rolling hills with a few steep climbs thrown in for good measure. We rode the Maroondah highway crossing Lake Eildon, stopping at Bonnie Doon, Yea, Strath creek and Broadford. As we got closer to civilisation towns became more frequent giving us the opportunity to take onboard drinks and food. This particular morning was extremely peaceful as our resident PR and doctor Paul Bennet was not at his best, having been up all night with sickness. For him it was a hard morning for us it was blissfully quite. However, as the day wore on he bounced back and the noise level steadily increased. Well done Paul most people would have give up at this stage but you are a tough determined guy.

Whilst we have mentioned our support driver Phil several times for his tireless support, we think it only fitting that this days blog should be dedicated to him and his superbly logo'd vehicle. We are sure that without Phil we would have had many more close shaves and found the whole experience twice as hard. Well done Phil, all the boys would like to say a great big thank you.

Day 7 Yackandandah to Mansfield

Distance: 159km
Ascent 2,435m

A couple of small climbs as the route took us through Bushranger country and on into the relatively flat wine country in crystal clear Autumnal weather. We had breakfast at Beechworth eating Ned Kelly pies and drinking lots of coffee and hot chocolate. After breakfast we were then treated to some great downhills to Benalla were we stopped for lunch. Our resident PR & Doctor was at it again, starting the day with a chat with Macca on Australia All Over (National ABC Radio) he's now more famous than Cadel Evans!
The end of the day saw a bit of a race into Mansfield where we stayed at the Alzburg Resort, spa, massive TVs, pubs...what more could 9 men want.

Day 6 Khancoban to Yackandandah

Distance 151km
Ascent 2,878m

Beautiful Victorian high country cycling. A cold frosty morning followed by a lovely warm sun. We climbed gradually as we rode away from the Snowy Mountains, a Cyclist paradise and a welcome rest bite from yesterdays ordeal. We passed lake Hume and the flooded town of old Tallangatta before stopping at the new Tallangatta for lunch. After a steep climb at 60km the rest of the journey was reasonably flat. Thinking that the day would go without incident a load bang was heard and a single bike came to a stand still. That bike was Gary Roche's, his back derailleur had disintegrated sending pieces of cast aluminium in all directions. The reason for this damage, well there were lots of excuses but let me tell you readers bad gear changing is top of the list! Unable to fix the bike at the side of the road Gary used the spare bike to complete the rest of the journey. On arrival at the Townshiphill Motel the owner's son allowed us the use of his workshop and with the aid of new parts and a vice we managed to repair the damage to Gary's bike. Reunited with his trusty steed Gary was like a small child at Christmas. After a reasonably easy day the team was back to normal, joking about everything and anything. Of course Gary was teased about his gear changing ability!

Day 5 Berridale to Khancoban

Distance: 138km
Ascent: 4,649m


This was a big day with lots of climbs as we crossed the Snowy Mountains from Berridale to Khancoban. Climbing gradually to Jindabyne, the gateway to the mountains we just kept climbing and climbing. Passing through the ski resort Thredbo we reached the highest point of 1,580m at the aptly named Dead Horse Gap. Having left the highest point we were rewarded by a 20km downhill section that tested everyone's riding skills, some descent speeds were recorded at over 40mph. At 100km we negotiated a small climb and spirits were high, however this ride had a sting in its tail. At 112km we encountered a 7km climb with an average gradient of 10% that sapped everyone's all ready low energy reserves. The team fragmented by the big descent had formed 3 separate groups. Starting the ascent no one had any idea this climb was going to be so hard, every corner was followed by another climb. On paper it did not look that difficult but in reality it was a real slog and one that will be fixed in everyone's memory for a long time to come.

We eventually reached Khancoban after the sun had set, with some team members having to negotiate a tricky fast descent in total darkness. A welcome log fire greeted us at the Khancoban Alpine Inn. With several boys suffering from cold and exhaustion, we had our food and for the first time on this amazing journey very little was said. We finished our meal, sorted out the washing and went to bed.

Day 4 Canberra to Berridale

Total Distance: 160km
Total Ascent 1,973m

Firstly, we had to negotiate the morning rush hour from the outskirts of the city to Parliament House for a photo shoot, so the ride was nearer 175km. Cold! Oh dear everyone was frozen by the time we had covered the 15km, what made it worse some riders had only brought summer gloves, next stop a ski shop for thicker gloves. There was great support from Paul Angel's mum and dad, Brian and Liz and John Scott and Kate from KHA as we reached Parliament House. The Photo shoot over, we headed for breakfast and a welcome hot chocolate.

A strong headwind meant we reached Cooma as the sun was dropping, some 30km sort of the final designation Berridale. As the team refuelled ahead of the final leg, team members took the opportunity to purchase skiing gloves from the local shops to try and off-set the cold. A 2 hours ride in the dark with limited lights, horizontal rain and two punchers meant we were all shattered at the end of day 4.

Some special mentions for day 4: Paul Angel for his willingness to take the lead on the last 30km, what a star, thanks Paul. Phil our support driver for protecting us in the dark and using his headlights to light the way. And finally, to the owner of the Snowgate Motel who could not be bothered to do anything for us and was a miserable old so-and-so! Strong language removed for legal reasons!

Day 3 Bundanoon to Canberra

Distance: 182km

Total Ascent: 1,656m

Longest day of the trip covering just over 182km. A vicious side wind made the going extremely hard, with little protection from other team members it was a real grind, averaging only 15km per hour. Our lunch stop was at the side of the road eating big Macs, expertly supplied by Phil our support driver. Some sore boys finally rolled into the outskirts of Canberra just as the sun set. The Brits saw their first wild roos today and the first dead ones on the side of the road. The Aussie team members had forgotten how cold Canberra gets. About 1 degree at the moment. We hope to meet some politicians tomorrow to increase kidney health awareness and have some photos taken.

Day 2 Kiama to Bundanoon.

Distance: 75km

Total Ascent: 1644m

Day 2 saw us climbing the biggest climb of our lives, over 600 metres vertically up. The climb gives you no rest bite, starting at over 20% gradient and gradually easing off to 12%, this local attraction makes grown men cry! Raising from the Pacific Ocean, the Jamberoo Pass winds its way up a beautiful forest road finally finishing at the world famous "Robertson pie Shop". Not all survived the climb without dismounting. Phil (our support crew driver) did some fancy three point turns on some of the hairpins to save a couple of us. We recommend staying at the Kiama Blowhole Cabins as the owner, Margaret, waved our accommodation expenses for our cause. Amazingly she has a very sick daughter but was kind enough to still think of others. We Stayed at Bundanoon and were able to dodge any locals from the Balangalo Forest looking for stray English Backpackers.

Day 1 Sydney to Kiama

Distance: 128km Total Ascent: 1702m

Early morning Sydney it is around 10 degrees centigrade and the crew starts their epic journey.
Getting out of Sydney is somewhat of a challenge and the traffic is none too friendly.
We have our first puncture en route out of Sydney somewhere in Sutherland.
Our resident doctor is constantly being called to the phone. He is our media star and is being called by a number of radio stations, newspapers and TV who are covering our ride. We are asked if we can make Flagstaff Park to meet with WIN TV who want to have a story for the evening news. We revised our time of arrival about 3 times due to heavy traffic.
We negotiated the Royal National Park which was just wonderful after the heavy traffic highway. The park was just serene and shady with a cacophony of bird calls and some rather challenging hills which reminded us that road cycling is no picnic.
We left the park and hit the coast road which wound up and down one dale after another. We arrived on time to meet the media in Wollongong to meet the press as arranged and they filmed us making a circuit and interviewed our "Doctor".
Then we were off to Kiama along a very picturesque road built on stilts which almost ran out over the surf . The scene was amazing with waves breaking on our left in a turquoise colour with a translucence sheen of azure blue (poetic moment).
We arrived at the blowhole in Kiama and had more media and photos (Kiama Independent) then off to our overnight cabins to stretch and have a few beers. We survived the 1st day and were certainly ready for bed.

Ride2give Team Finally Meet

After months of planning the Ride2give team met for the first time on a cold but sunny Sunday morning. The team took the opportunity to put their bikes and bodies through a shake down ride in Sydney's Centennial Park. We happy to report that all past the first test!

The Poms Arrive in Oz

Well here we are, Dan and I (Geoff) have arrived in Oz and the second part of the UK team are due to land this morning. Over the last couple of days we have tried everything to sort out the jet lag, from hot baths to drinking the NSW monthly allocation of water! We attempted to ride the bikes through Sydney yesterday morning only to be frustrated by hundreds of traffic lights and some not so friendly motorist. Needless to say we ended up lost and achieving very little other than a great breakfast of hot chocolate and pastries at a local deli. As part of our commitment to visiting Oz we agreed to meet up with our Westcon colleagues to talk about business and the likes. However, as luck would have it we arrived on a day when the Westcon operations team had planned to celebrate someone leaving the company after 10 years service and of course we were asked to join the celebrations. So the banter continued and we put the world to rights, needless to say Dan and I are feeling a little worse for wear thanks to the great hospitality of Barry Broom and David Corcoran. More water please nurse!